Furnace-charger.



m. 768,596. PATENTED AUG. 30, 1904.v

w. H. FREBLAND.

I'URNAGE CHARGER. Arr'uoulon rum 00m. 12. 1903.

N0 MODEL. 2 sung-sunni- 1.

a f F a? J1 i W g I G) l m R )m m h\ All 8w wzzmssfis L PATENTED AUG. 30, 1904. W. H- FREELAND.

FURNACE CHARGER- urmonmj FILED our. 1:. 1903.

1 N0 MODEL: 2 SHEETS--BHEET W" Elm 1 UNITED STATES Patented August 30, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

FURNACE-CHARGER.

"SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 768,596, dated August 30, 1904. i

I I Application filed October 12, 1903. $erial No. 176,756. (No model.) 1 I To all whom it may concern: 1

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM HUGH FREE- Tennessee, have-invented certain new'and use- 'ful Improvements in Furnace-Chargers, of-

which the following is a full, clear, and'eXact descriptiomreference being hadto the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof;

My invention has relation toimprovements in furnace-chargers; and it consists in the lodged from its closed position and showing the charge falling into the furnace. Fig. 3 is a top plan of Fig. 1 with parts broken away.

Fig. 4 is an end View of the apparatus, the rails being in sectionon line 4: f Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail'in side elevation of the carriage frame, showing ends'of the leavesor flights of the conveyerand link belt therefor. Fig. 6 is a transverse sectionon line 6 6 of Fig. 5. Fig.7 is an enlarged side elevational detail showing manner of operation of the automatic couplers carried by the water-cooled top or cover, and Fig. 8 is a horizontal. section on line 88 of Fig. 6.

The object of my invention is toprovide a charging apparatus for blast or other furnaces, said charger delivering'the ore and other material from stock-piles; bins, or bunkers to a point directly over the furnace and feeding the material ther'ein'to, the distribucharge has been deposited.

In detail the apparatus may be described as follows:'-

Referring to the drawings, F represents the 'top of a conventional form of blast-furnace,

to which lead the track-rails-l 1. The rails communicate with any source of supply for the furnace charge, the material being con- .veyed'to the furnace by a carriage or truck traveling on said rails.

The carriage-frame at its forward end is provided with suitable electric motors M and M, respectively, the former serving to impel the carriage along the rails and the latter to actuate a suitable-'conveyer, on which the This conveyer is composed, preferably, of a series of metal leaves or flights 2, whose terminaldeflected ends overlap oneanother, so as to virtually form a trough for the charge, the several leaves being secured to the link belts or chains 3, impelled by the motor M.

The gearing between the belts and motor may be briefly 'ad'verted to, though, of course, it isobvious that any construction of gearing may be used; Leading from the reducinggear case tis a shaft 5, carrying a sprocketpinion 6,which'is connected through the link belt 7 to the sprocket-wheel 8. The latter imparts-motion to, the shaft 9, which carries the sprocket-wheels 10, over which one end of the link belts passes, the opposite ends pass' '12. The hangers l2 likewise serve to support the bottom sheet-iron floor orplate 13, which serves to protect the conveyer from-the heat of thefurnace when the carriage'is over the top of said furnace. That the carriage may be driven in either direction the motor M is tion, among these beingtthat *the speed ofeithcr motor and the direction of the car- I riages travel is made instantly Variable atthe will of the operator. Thus the apron conveyer may be discharging its burden into the furnace at any speed (which speed may be varied at will) while the carriage is being propelled forward and backward or to and fro over the furnace at any desired speed, (this latter being also variable,) or the carriage may be stopped at any point in its travel and the apron or conveyer be caused to discharge its burden or any portion of it while the carriage is stationary.

The floor of the pit of the operator is represented at 1 1, and it is apparent-that his position is such that he can, Fig. 2, inspect the interior of the furnace at all times, and thus be able to impel or move the carriage in any desirable directionand at any desired rate of speed to distribute the charge to the best advantage and as may be required by the furnaces condition. To this feature of variable distribution I attach great importance, since a furnaces condition is often irregular, owing to scaffolding or incrusting and other causes, which conditions are susceptible of remedy by varying the distribution of the charge as such conditions may call for.

A charger of the character described necessarily operates in connection with an open-top furnace, so that the products of combustion smoke and gasesmust be conveyed to the smoke-stack (not shown) by a lateral ofitake' F, the top being closed by a movable watercooled top or cover T, which is moved or shoved out of the way by the carriage as the conveyer of the latter dumps its charge into the furnace through the space left open by the dislodgment of the movable top.

The Water-cooled top T may be described as follows: It is a flat metal casing or jacket, into which water is admitted through a flexible hose 15,the water circulating around the bafiieplates or diaphragm 16 to insure the best cooling results, finally escaping through an outlet-pipe 17, whence it is conveyed to a discharge-trough 18, carried by the furnace and conducted to any suitable point. Like the carriage, the movable top T travels on the rails 1 1, being suspended from the axles 19, which carry the terminal wheels 20. The end of the top T adjacent to the carriage is provided with bumpers 21 to prevent an overrun of the charger (the term charger herein havingi' reference more particularly to the carriage and its conveyer) in effecting a coupling with Since the the top, as presently to be seen. furnace-mouth remains closed by the watercooled top or cover T at all times, it becomes necessary to move this cover aside during the charging operation, this advance of the cover being effected by the traveling charger as the latter passes over the rails 1 1.

The manner of automatically coupling the charger to and uncoupling the same from the water-cooled top or cover is as follows: Pivoted on either side of the top are the bent coupling-levers 22, the outwardly-dellected medial portions terminating in the downwardly inclined extensions 22, extending along the outside of the furnace, and the ter minals of the inner parallel portions of the levers being provided with notches 2C"), whieh are adapted to engage the lower edge of the angle-bar 24: at the bottom of the anterior portion of the carriage, the ends of the levers being beveled to facilitate the engagement between the parts. Of course the levers are piroted to one side of their center of gravity, said center being on the side of the portions 22, whereby the notched ends will tend to swing upward and force themselves into positive engagement with the member 24-. aforesaid. For the coupled position of the earria-ge, Fig. 2, the floor 1a of the operatons pit is directly over the adjacent end of the water-cooled top, so that the operator as well as the motors M M are protected from the heat and gases of the furnace, and when the top T has been shoved wholly from over the furnace the conveyer-iiights and link belts are protected from these same gases and heat by the plate or floor 11-3 of the carriage above referred to. The carriage :mtomatieally disengages itself from the couplers by the time the top T has been closed fully over the furnace through the instrumentality of the tripping-pins 25, projecting from the walls of the furnace, said pins striking and raising the inclined ends 22 of the coupling-levers and obviously depressing the opposite notched ends sufficiently to cause the notches to release their hold on the angle-bar 21-, as fully apparent from the illustration in Fig. 7, the dotted lines showing the coupled position of the parts. Of course the pins 25 are so located that the disengagement takes place only when the furnace-top is completely covered by the water-cooled top T.

By examining Fig. 2 it must be apparent that all the advantages and possibilities as outlined above are inherent in the present charger. The furnace-top is always closed either by the cover T or by'the floor of the carriage,or both, and during the charging operation the only opening left over the furnace is the comparatively narrow passage or chute between the discharging-flights 2 and the posterior wall of the operators pit. This passage may be likened to a wide-moutlmd hosenozzle waved to and fro across the top of the furnace, the backward and forward motion of the carriage providing this waving motion. The charge escaping through this passage may be likened to a sheet of material deposited across the mouth of the furnace, the distribution being effected so as to produce a, uniform product and insure uniformity in the operation of the furnace. Through this chute or passage the operator can inspect the furnace contents as the carriage travels over the mouth of the furnace, whereby he can judge accurately as to the amount of charge he should feed over any particular spot or'any particular area in the furnace.

It is to be understood, of course, that I do not wish to limit myself to the details of con struction here shown, as these maybe departed from in a measure without affecting the nature. or spirit of my invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim is 1. In a furnace-charger, the combination with a furnace having a charging-opening, of a movable cover normally closing said opening, a traveling conveyer adapted to dislodge the cover and discharge its contents into said opening, and means for moving the conveyer along the opening to distribute the charge, substantially as set forth.

2. In a furnace-charger, a suitable traveling carriage adapted to be impelled to and from the furnace, a conveyer mounted on the carriage for delivering the charge to the furnace, said conveyer being adapted to be impelled independently of the carriage, a traveling furnace top or cover adapted to normally close over the charging-opening of the furnace, the cover being adapted to be moved by the carriage in its reciprocations, thereby uncovering the charging-opening for admitting the material into the furnace, substantially as set forth.

A 3. In a furnace-charger, the combination with a furnace having a charging-opening, of a movable top or cover normally closing said opening, a traveling conveyer adapted to dislodge said cover for purposes of discharging into the furnace, means for coupling the cover to the conveyer upon such dislodgment, the conveyer being adapted to move or reciprocate along the opening to distribute the charge, and drawthe cover with it in such movements .01" reciprooations, substantially asset forth.

4. In afurnace-charger, a suitable traveling carriage adapted to be impelled to and from the furnace, a conveyer mounted on the carriage for feeding the charge to the furnace, a traveling top or cover normally closing the charging-opening ofthe furnace, the advancing or anterior end of the carriage-floor being adapted to partially overlap the cover, means on the cover for limiting the advance of the carriage in the direction of the cover, means for coupling the carriage to the cover for the overlapping position of the former, aprotecting floor or plate for the carriage, the carriage and cover being adapted to travel together over the charging-opening of the furnace, a suitable space being left between the delivery end of the conveyer and the operators pit for the discharge of the material into the furnace, substantially as set forth.

5. In a furnace-charger, a suitable traveling carriage operating in connectionwith the furnace, a conveyer mounted on the carriage and I having independent driving mechanism, a water-cooled travelingtop or furnace cover adapted to be coupled to, and propelled by said carriage, and coupling devices mounted on the cover for engaging the carriage, sub

stantially as set forth,

6. In a furnace-charger, a suitable traveling top orfurnace-cover,bent coupling-levers piv- 1ng,"a traveling carriage operating in connection with said opening, a conveyer mounted on thecarriage and having independent driv ing mechanism, and means for coupling said cover to the carriage whereby the two travel in unison during the movements of the carriage, substantially as set forth.

8. In combination with a furnace having a traveling or movable cover normally closing its charging opening, a charging carriage adapted to dislodge the cover from its closed position and deposit its material in sheets across the opening into the furnace, substantially as set forth.

9. In combination with a furnace, a suitable charger adapted to travel to and fro over the top of the furnace, and means for permitting the deposit of the material into the furnace during the travel of said charger over the opening of said furnace, substantially as set forth;

10. The combination with a furnace having a charging-opening, of a movable cover normally closing said opening, a traveling charger adapted to dislodge the cover, said charger having a feed-chute adapted to discharge the material through the uncovered section of the opening left bythe dislodgment of the cover, the balance of such uncovered section being closed by the passage of the charger there'- over, substantially as set forth.

11. The combinationwith a furnace having a charging-opening, of a cover normally clos ing said opening, and a charger adapted to dislodge said cover and simultaneously closethe'openmg in proportion as the same is left uncovered by suchdislodgment, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I aflix' my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM HUGH FREELAND. Witnessesz GHARLE's W. RENWIOK, W. J. ASHTON. 

